The Netenyahu government’s refusal to issue a formal apology has led to a swift reaction from Turkey. Prime Minister Erdoğan ordered the implementation of five measures against Israel. “No country is above the law,” said Foreign Minister Davutoğlu, referring to the big elephant in the room, which is the Israeli exceptionalism in regional and global politics.
5 comments:
Turkey has always respected Armenian, Greek, and Kurdish human rights.
Turkey had expected the UN to say that the attack was unlawful but it didn't say that. Nevertheless, they proceeded as if it did - they were looking for a pretext to break relations. If Israel had apologized, they would have found another pretext. Turkish politicians have to stay ahead of the "street" (or the "street" will get "a head" of them (see Egypt) and the Turkish street is nowadays Islamic and anti-Israel. The future belongs to those who show up and it is the religious who are showing up.
"The future belongs to those who show up and it is the religious who are showing up."
This is true at the level of individual countries but does not reflect the context of relations between the Islamic Middle East and the West. The "godless" major Western powers, despite their current low birth rates, could easily overrun or destroy the entire Middle East if it were their desire to do so. They will likely still possess this capability well into the future given the incompetence that typifies Middle Eastern governments no matter who is in power. It is the low morale and multicultural ennui that currently pervades the West that hampers consistent, strong and decisive responses to Islamism.
Anon- Does your answer change once Iran has nuclear weapons?
"IF" it were there desire to do so. That's a big IF. In Yiddish you say, " IF" my grandmother had a beard, she would be my grandfather.
But she doesn't, so she ain't. And just as it's not easy for my bubbie to grow a beard, it's not easy for the West to recapture the will that it has lost. Religious fanatacism, on the other hand, is a very effective motivator. This is Israel's advantage - it's a Western country with Western competence, but it has enough religious and ideological fanaticism (not to mention fear of being overrun) to keep it motivated against its enemies. Unfortunately, the # of enemies (Turkey, Egypt) seems to be multiplying. Israel is certainly up to countering such threats, but this is not a helpful trend.
K
K
This will sound callous, but the religious fundamentalists in the Muslim world don't have the organization to grow enough food to feed their people. the seculars didn't, but they had friendly relations with the US and other major powers and thus were able to import the experts and machinery needed.
Egypt is a prime example of this incompetence. Right now the Egyptians grow slightly less than they eat, and because of good relations with the US and the West they are able to use tourist revenue and foriegn aid to make up the difference. If there were a rupture of relations with the US like Iran had with America the Egyptians would not even be able to grow the food that they do now, much less receive handouts or welcome tourists.
Most callously of all, given time the problem will self-correct.
~Mark Doane
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